Archive for December, 2007

Dec200720

joeperson

31

Spurrier bids farewell to a friend

Firing a coach is never easy. It is particularly tough when that coach is a friend. But that was the situation Steve Spurrier found himself in this week when he chose not to retain tight ends coach and special teams co-coordinator Fred Chatham. Spurrier hired Chatham at Duke in 1989, and the North Carolina native [...]

Dec200720

joeperson

12

The beat goes on: Another new DC for USC

USC has gone through defensive coordinators the way the rock band, Spinal Tap, went through drummers in the cult movie classic by the same name. Tap’s drummers all died under strange circumstances, including one who spontaneously combusted. Fortunately, none of the Gamecocks’ defensive coordinators have met with that sort of fate. They just were fired [...]

Dec200707

joeperson

3

One man’s Heisman ballot

On back-to-back November Saturdays, I got a birds-eye view of the two leading Heisman candidates. Watching Arkansas tailback Darren McFadden take apart the South Carolina defense in a 321-yard rushing performance, you figured there was no way any player could top it. But a week later, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow put on his own virtuoso [...]

Dec200706

joeperson

19

Will USC’s Nix get nixed?

Now that South Carolina defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix has pulled out of the Southern Miss search, the big question is: Will Nix keep his current job? Fans looking for a scapegoat for the Gamecocks’ five-game losing streak and subsequent 6-6 record have pointed the computer mouse at Nix, whose defense was torched by Arkansas and [...]